Carers Rights Day is a yearly landmark in the carers calendar and the time when we highlight issues affecting carers in Northern Ireland - people who give so much to society, yet face hardship and isolation through their caring role. Kindly sponsored by MLAs David McNarry, Anna Lo and Mark H Durkan, the event offered a great opportunity for MLAs to meet their constituents and hear their stories as carers. This year we also launched a new and updated booklet - Looking After Someone, a guide to carers rights and benefits.
Carers Northern Ireland Director, Helen Ferguson, set the tone by drawing attention to the massive contribution that carers make to society and to the many stresses they experience through their dedication to the people they care for.
David McNarry struck a chord with many in the audience when he described his struggles to find adequate care for his sister-in-law Jenny. Carer representative Rosemary Patton then shared her story of giving up a life in Canada to return to Northern Ireland and look after her father. Like David she's had a number of difficulties but she also felt that her recent experiences of health and social care were very positive, with staff recognising her own needs as carer. David stressed his determination to ensure that carers are not disadvantaged when the hard decisions are made about public finances.
Given the Assembly's other business on the day, we were delighted to see MLAs Dominic Bradley and Chris Lyttle take time out of their busy schedules to drop in. A number of MLAs sent in their messages of support, which made an effective backdrop display.
It was great to see such huge interest in this year's event, but with numbers limited to 50, places filled rapidly and unfortunately not everyone who wanted to was able to attend. We hope to see you at another event in the near future.
See our Facebook page for photos from the event www.facebook.com/CarersNorthernIreland
